brianbusby.bsky.social
Writer, écrivain public, anthologist, literary historian, bibliophile, and three-time winner of the Ice Capades Colouring Contest.
Author of Character Parts (Knopf), A Gentleman of Pleasure (McGill-Queen's UP), and The Dusty Bookcase (Biblioasis).
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My earliest karaoke memory involves a very drunk Californian friend who somehow thought to sing "Should I Stay or Should I Go" with a Cockney accent in a dank Montreal bar.
Dick Van Dyke would've done it better.
Bearing witness, I canceled my plan to sing "This Charming Man."
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An excellent novelist who should be better known in English-speaking Canada. Do not get me started on other countries! One million copies of Le Matou were sold in in a province which then had a population of 6.5 million. Sheila Fischman's translation, The Alley Cat, is the place to start.
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God bless Eva Marie Saint! I'm almost embarrassed to admit that this was my introduction to her work. In my defence, I had read Simone de Beauvoir:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSc4...
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Do NOT let me get started on dynaflex.
Selling point: "It is thinner than any record you have ever owned."
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To be fair, one of them might've been carrying a sponge.
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I wonder whether he's thinking of this:
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And again, we Canadians are shaking our heads in wonder.
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Perhaps my favourite Bowie picture sleeve. The photo is wonderful, though it in no way compliments the song.
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What I like most about it is that the author's name is hidden in the title. Inspiration for my children's book The Big Bus by the Side of the Road.
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Will this run of shit UK PMs never end?
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Well, if you're curious about the opinions of a 62-year-old Canadian biographer and literary historian...
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I had no idea! Now I've got to find out more about Sara Hamilton Birchall. Her entry in SFU's Database of Canada's Early Women Writers consists of nothing more than her name.
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Passed past PM Pierre Trudeau on Montreal's Mountain Street in 1986. Like you, I smiled and nodded. He did the same.
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Thus far, the high point has been the use of "Fortunate Son"
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no senator's son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one, no
Who knew this fête would be sponsored! That alone makes the whole thing worthwhile. More corporations we know to boycott.
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The man is a grifter. Nothing more, nothing less. What he is not is a journalist; his lawyer stated that very obvious fact in court.
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All the more reason to protest.
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That young man looks to be in his early forties.
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I once owned a copy of that 1957 Dell edition of The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne. Always found it amusing that "soon to be a major motion picture" was part of the cover pitch.
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In addition, he never looked like he had such a head of hair.
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A nerdy Canadian of a different age, this was mine. I was a little kid at the time and didn't catch up for several years. Such beauty:
And you know that it's true
Wales is not like California in any way
And when I hear your music
You're still thousands of miles away
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMPS...
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Started down the path to buying 50 tickets to this almost sold out event and wasn't stopped, so there are at least that many to be had.
To be fair, I'd consider 1050 sales in a 1100 person venue "almost sold out." And, hey, $49.95 including breakfast and lunch seems a good deal... or maybe not.
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Travel advisory for Canadians: Visiting American may expose you to measles, tuberculosis, Covid-19, chickenpox, and twenty or so other diseases.
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Watching from Ottawa, I just shake my head... but not in disbelief. Too much of what has taken place south of our border once seemed the stuff fantasy. I shake my head because the man is a fucking idiot and liar. If this wasn't so serious, we would be laughing at the United States.
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The most groundbreaking of all his singles, which is saying a lot. No one caught up with that sound until Sign o' the Times.
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Every face covered.
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Nope.
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Travel advisory for Canadians: Visiting American relatives might expose you to measles, tuberculosis, covid-19, mumps, chicken pox, tetanus, meningitis, and twenty-five or so other diseases.
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The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh.
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To be fair, from what I've read it is sometimes a challenge to walk when you're wearing lifts.
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From everything I've read, walking with lifts in your shoes can be a challenge.
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Best album I ever bought at store that wasn't a record or department store: Mott the Hoople's The Hoople. This was in a suburban Montreal convenience store.
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For those who couldn't quite get enough! We've got Moon River! We've got Andy Williams! (But not Moon River by Andy Williams.)
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Time to send Hoekstra home... and while we're at it, let's take back the lane we gave them on Sussex Drive.
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Canada welcomes you. Hell, there are more Canadians living in LA than in six of our ten provinces.
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Bullshit. If Tom Homan had one thousand protesters outside his house he would've posted photos and videos. Hell, it would've made the news.
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Gee, hear’s hoping there’s no invasion from the Gulf of America.
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White supremacists are incapable of love.
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He was also "sleepy," right?
You'll forgive me, I hope, that this Canadian sees this all as ridiculous. I'd be laughing uproariously if it wasn't so dangerous.
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Happily so. Thirty-two years after the Habs last brought home the cup, this Canadian is ready to embrace any Canadian team that makes it to the finals.
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Watching from Ottawa, I can't help but remember footage of this sad little man running for his life on January 6, 2021.